The Blind Tigress
by Calamity Heart
Summary: It's that time of year again. As creepy as Naruto finds masks, he takes Hinata's word for it that Tsunade's annual masquerade ball will be fun, and tries his best to relax and enjoy it. An extremely difficult feat, made even more nerve-wracking as Naruto finds himself being targeted for some reason by a strange woman wearing a mask with no eyeholes. It's going to be a long night.
1. It'll Be Fun

**Hello, everyone! So, this is just a short little side thing I felt inspired to do and share with you all. I don't plan for this to be very long, or take very long to get to the better parts. :P I came up with the idea a few days ago after a talk with a friend, and was just dying to show it somewhere. I plan for the chapters to be short, but if you'd prefer I make them a bit longer, just let me know and I'll try to accommodate! Enjoy!**

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><p>He was the head of the spear that battled to save the ninja world. He fearlessly took on a physical god, and for a time, he had to do it alone. He's teetered on the precipice of death countless times over the course of his short life, and has attained a near-insurmountable level of power. And now, he's nervous about attending a masquerade ball. Go fucking figure.<p>

It's something of a tradition for the Hokage to host events like this in their home every year at about this time, something that Naruto, being the antisocial ragamuffin that he was in his youth, never really cared for attending, and would often overhear things about afterwards. Usually, it's an unthemed little party where people can dress up in whatever costumes they want, but Tsunade decided this year to make masks a theme for the ball.

It was Hinata who recommended that he go this year, and she even went so far as to provide a fancy little orange-and-silver fox-like half-mask the day prior for him to wear. She assured him that he'd enjoy it, and Naruto knew that if there was anyone whose words he could put faith in, it was Hinata. But the more he thought about it, even as he readied himself to go, the less sure he was that this would be as fun as she suggested.

These cryptically forewarning thoughts presently keep Naruto held at bay before the entrance to the Hokage Residence. His mask was on, and as far as he could tell, he looked nice enough in his black suit and orange tie. The soothing sounds of flute music and light drumming drew his ears in, but the rest of him was rigid with tension for several moments.

_It'll be fun, Naruto._

He closes his eyes and runs a scarred hand through his unusually-kempt hair as he reflect on Hinata's words, letting the echoed memory of her soft voice try and coax him into loosening up.

_I promise._

With a deep sigh, Naruto does his best to let the nerves melt away, and urges his body forward, one step at a time into Tsunade's home, following the music until he finds himself in a vast ballroom among a crowd of frozen, masked faces. The majority of guests at the ball had on half-masks like he did, of various shapes and colors, and with sometimes stunning, flashy decorations like feathers, frills or tiny gold or silver chains, and the outfits and costumes he spotted were no less extravagant and gaudy. A few of the guests walked around with masks that concealed their face completely, like ANBU. One or two wore masks that simulated expressions like happiness, but the vast majority of masks were completely stoic.

Naruto takes one look around, finding no wonder in how he could have thought this would be a bit weird. He forgot just how _creepy_ masks are. Seeing people that move their bodies and make idle gestures as if their talking, but their face never changing… it was surreal to him. Even with half-masks, it was weird. Almost all expression comes from the eyes and the eyebrows. With those hidden, everyone around Naruto looks uncomfortably uncanny.

_It'll be fun, Naruto._

This line runs over and over again through Naruto's head as he tries to ease that tickle in his spine that made the hairs on his nape rise, but he can't relax. He can't shake the feeling that he's being watched from somewhere. Shutting out the noise around him for a moment, he slowly turns his head back and forth a few times as he lingers near the entrance. Eventually, he spots her, several feet away, very close to one corner of the room.

There a woman stands, with pale fair skin and silverish-white hair that has a single gloomy streak of blue on her right side. She wore a short white kimono with its sleeves ending at the elbow and the hem ending just above her knees. Her attire was trimmed light blue, and similar-colored stripes were visible along the short sleeves, and even painted along the sides of her bare lower legs. All twenty neatly-trimmed nails were painted a glossy light blue, and the shimmering hue was even present on her soft, small, smiling lips.

The woman's half-mask is what entrances and unnerves Naruto all at the same time. Its base is silver, and it is dramatically stylized with light-blue trim and stripes just like her attire, giving her the appearance of an almost ghostly white tigress. What makes this woman's appearance stand out, however, is that her mask has no visible eyeholes. The way that her mask's stripes are placed and patterned, it's obvious where the eyeholes are _supposed_ to be, but there's only silver base. As far as Naruto knows, the woman he's looking at is completely blind. And yet, her head is turned as if she's looking right back at him.

That cold shiver tickles Naruto's back again, and it takes him a moment to tear his eyes away and start to walk forward, trying to pretend he never noticed her there. He goes for a few steps, walking, whistling, trying to catch a couple of words from the nearby conversations to distract himself. Eventually, he has no choice, and turns his head to look back at where he'd seen her, to find out if she was still… 'watching' him. Naruto blinks as he sees that the space where that odd woman was once standing was now empty, and as he looks around quickly, he finds that she's nowhere to be found. That bad feeling returns.

"Jeez…" he mutters to himself, sighing and nervously scratching the back of his neck.

_It'll be fun, Naruto,_ she said… Whatever faith he had left in those words was vanishing quickly.

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><p><strong>Hope you guys enjoyed it. The next chapter will be up as soon as possible!<strong>

**~M.H.C~**

**May all you Hearts beat with Calamity!**

**Till next time!**


	2. Do I Know You?

**Holy crap. In less than twelve hours, I've gotten more favorites and follows for this story than I think I've ever gotten for any of my stories this quickly! :D Thank you guys so much for the favorites! I would love it if you guys reviewed as well and told me what you're enjoying about the story, if anything. n_n**

**The third chapter will likely be up tonight, if not later today. Enjoy for now!**

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><p>The more Naruto walked around the edges of the festive ballroom in Tsunade's dwelling, peering about at the colorful lights and listening to the lively music and the many laughs and animated words people shared with one another, the more comfortable he became, albeit quite slowly. He started out walking slowly about with his shoulders raised almost to his ears, but after a moment, he adopted a curious, casual little stroll, almost smiling.<p>

As much as he wanted to relax, though, the image of that ghostly tiger-woman would not let him. Her eyeless face, her palish appearance, the odd sense of… something… that he felt when he looked at her, clung to his back and breathed hotly against his neck. Every several moments, he felt as if he'd see her right behind him if he turned around. Paranoia was like an unfamiliar illness to Naruto. He barely knew a thing about how to handle it.

This looming not-dread, however, wasn't enough of a problem for him to want to leave. At least not yet. He reaches his hand up to adjust his mask when he suddenly feels a cold hand on his shoulder.

"Do we kn-"

"GYAAAGH!"

Naruto wasn't quite in the mood for surprises. However, he takes this shock a lot better than he probably could have. Reflex hijacks his body, and Naruto spins around and grabs the wrist touching his shoulder, quickly whirling the yelping woman toward the wall next to them and pinning her captured wrist above her head with one hand, and firmly pressing her bare shoulder into the wall with the other.

"Who are y-" Naruto starts to demand. He pauses mid-syllable as he realizes this isn't the woman he thought it was. She was wrapped in a sleeveless, feathery purple tube garment that ends just below the middle of her thigh and stunning, glittery high heels of a similar color. Her milky-blonde hair was done up in a side ponytail and gathered into a fancy cyclone of curls over her right shoulder.

She wore a glittery purple half-mask trimmed with gold and stylized similar to a birds, with fluffy feathers fanned out along its left side. The eyes faintly visible behind the mask were cool blue, and wide with surprise, and the little of her cheeks that the mask exposed was flushed pink with sudden shock.

"…Ino? Is that you?"

Ino quickly recovers her bearings and gives Naruto a frown, a fierce glare, and a swift, hard knee right into his crotch. Naruto nearly retches, his hands releasing Ino in order to reflexively reach to grab himself and reel over in pain. Not a moment later, Naruto chokes out another panicked gag as he feels an impossibly strong arm curl right around his neck and pull him up into a fierce chokehold. She could easily remove his head if she wanted to.

"Nothing to see here!" Sakura's voice chuckles innocently, and Naruto's eyes peer around, discovering quite a lot of odd looks in their direction. "Nothing wrong, nothing wrong! Just a slight misunderstanding~ He's very sorry for the disturbance, _aren't you, Naruto…?_"

His face pales in fear and breathlessness as the cherry-scented threat of death growls right into his ear, and with the inability to nod, he can only give Sakura a weak smile and a thumbs-up. A short, choked whine manages to escape as Sakura begins to drag him quickly across the room with Ino close behind, bringing him over to an empty corner of the party and throwing him down into one of the chairs.

Naruto gasps for breath and coughs for a few moments, groaning and clutching his sore privates as he tries to get himself together before looking up at the two women.

Sakura's arms were crossed over her chest, and her green eyes smoldered with annoyance behind the red and hot-pink phoenix mask over her eyes. She wore a cherry-red furisode, its iconic long sleeves hanging all the way down to her waist. Small depictions of cherry blossoms were peppered all over the garment below its hot-pink sash and all across its sleeves. Sakura's candy-pink hair was swept back out of her face and held in a very small tail by a single red bead. She was just as frightening to Naruto as she was beautiful.

"What the hell's gotten into you, Naruto?" Ino demands. "Why are you so on edge?"

He takes a moment to breathe in deeply and fix his hair. "I'm sorry, Ino… I'm just kinda freaked out, is all. You surprised me."

"Freaked out about what? You act like you saw a ghost just now."

"I did! …Or, I think so! Have you seen a weird lady around here with an eyeless tiger mask or something?"

The two women blink and look at each other for a moment. "I haven't," Sakura says. "And why would someone walk around wearing a mask with no eyeholes anyway? That's just ridiculous; maybe you're seeing things."

Naruto sighs and lifts his mask for a moment to rub his face. "I don't know. Maybe I- Hey!" Naruto yelps as Sakura immediately pulls his mask back down and slaps his hand away.

"You don't remove your mask until midnight, you goof. You've never been to something like this before, have you?" When Naruto shakes his head, Sakura continues. "What made you want to come, anyway?"

"Eh… Hinata invited me. She told me it'd be fun. Oh! You haven't seen _her_ around, have you?"

Again, Sakura and Ino glance at each other, and Ino shrugs while Sakura speaks. "I've seen her sister. I assume she came with Hinata, so maybe she knows where she is."

"Oh! Well, can you tell me where she is?" Naruto asks, getting his hopes up.

"No!"

Naruto's hope deflates and he goes limp in his chair, giving Sakura a confused look.

"Half the fun of a masquerade is going around the ballroom and trying to find people that you recognize. Even though you made it a bit neater, the two of us saw your bright yellow head from all the way across the room. I'm sure you're perceptive enough to go and hunt her down. Just remember, it's proper etiquette to ask, 'Do I know you?' when approaching someone. And don't be rude! Whether they say 'No, indeed,' or 'Yes, indeed,' talk to them!"

Not wanting to upset Sakura again, Naruto quickly nods at all of her instruction, yelping again as she gives him a little slap to the side of the head. "And no more throwing women against the wall. Lady Tsunade put me in charge of hosting the floor, and if you cause any more disturbances, I'm going to be wearing your _face_ like a mask. Are we clear?"

A bead of sweat, or perhaps a fearful tear, drips out from beneath Naruto's mask as he nods his head quickly and watches Sakura and Ino depart. He sighs and scratches his head as he looks around for a clock, finally spotting one on the wall behind him, and the ghastly eyeless-masked woman standing right underneath it.

Naruto was never good at reading old-fashioned hand clocks without the numbers on it, and it takes him a minute to guesstimate that it was close to ten o'clock, before gasping loudly in shock and falling right out of his chair. He scrambles to his feet as quickly as possible, but once again, she's gone without a trace as quickly as she appeared, and Naruto stares at the space she occupied literally a second and a half ago, now hauntingly empty.

For a brief moment, Naruto thinks he hears a soft giggle from somewhere far away.

"Nope. Nope. Nope…" he murmurs agitatedly to himself as he jams his hands into the pockets of his slacks and begins to power-walk around the ballroom, desperately searching for Hanabi now.

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><p><strong>And there we have it! The hunt is on, I suppose. Leave your thoughts in a review, if you please, and keep the support coming, guys! I love it!<strong>


	3. Red Brandy

**It's probably not a big mystery who the masked woman is, I'm sure. xP No spoilers from me, though I'm sure you'll figure it out! Although this is tagged under 'Mystery' (at least, I think it is), I really didn't go too far on the mysterious elements, especially given this isn't going to be a very long piece. Still! I hope you enjoy the chapter! I don't think I'm very funny, but I tried to add a touch of humor to this chapter, which will reach over into the next, hopefully, when it's posted tonight. :3**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>He was back to doing what he'd been doing before his encounter with Ino and Sakura, walking about along the perimeter of the ballroom, looking around at the masked faces, listening to the animated, cheery voices. It's not with curiosity, this time, but a nervous type of panic. He's seen the weird woman twice now, and has no idea what to make of her other than she seems to like being weird… It's not doing well for Naruto's impression of this ball.<p>

He wanders about, half-distracted by his quarreling inner thoughts, part of him telling him to leave now and spare himself any further creepiness, and part of him wanting to just find Hinata and hang around her for the evening, hoping her presence might stave off the ghost of a woman that was haunting him. Hell, he was considering looking around for Ino and Sakura again and hoping that they'd let him stick around them…

He covers one side of the room with no sign of Hanabi anywhere nearby, and stops for a few moments to stare longingly over at a nearby refreshment table holding several bowls full of colorful liquids. Deciding he could do with a little drink to calm his nerves, he turns back around to head in that direction, his heart tensing for a moment as he fully expected the blind tigress to be right behind him. He relaxes with a sigh as he sees no one, and decides against staying around to tempt fate any longer.

Naruto steps slowly around the refreshment table for a few moments, thinking briefly before deciding on fruit punch, ladling some into a small cup and taking a very long sip. He blinks for a couple of moments at the peculiar taste, then looks to his side as someone steps up to lean a hip against the table and stare out at the open, crowded ballroom, and Naruto can't help but stare for a brief moment. Compared to everyone else's elaborate costumes and fancy get-ups, the guy next to his seems rather casual and plain, a deer-like half-mask complete with antlers at the corners over his face.

"Eh… Do I know you?" Naruto asks. He recognizes him after a few moments, but decides to follow along with Sakura's instructions on etiquette.

"Yes, indeed," the man replies with a smirk.

"Shikamaru?"

"You got it. Didn't think you'd be here, Naruto," Shikamaru says plainly, turning his head to face Naruto and slightly tilting up his mask so his raised eyebrow is visible for a moment. Naruto chuckles and tries to relax as much as possible, relieved to find someone else he knew here.

"Could say the same for you. Never thought you were the lively party type."

"I'm not," Shikamaru sighs, and leaves it at that, pulling his mask down again. "You come here with anyone?"

Naruto looks around quickly and rubs the back of his neck. "Well, no… But… You haven't seen Hinata anywhere around here, have you? Or her sister?"

"Nope. Are you trying to get _away_ from them or something? You're looking nervous, man."

Naruto shakes his head. "No, no, it's not that… I think I'm being stalked by a ghost."

Shikamaru is silent for a very long few moments before he chuckles shortly. "A ghost, Naruto? Really? Of all the things to be afraid of, ghosts?"

"She's _freaky!_" Naruto insists, quickly drinking the rest of his fruit punch, pleasantly surprised by the little bit of kick it has as he refills the cup and drinks again. "Guh… She's got a mask with no eyes, and she appears and disappears! I think masks are kinda creepy to start with, but Hinata…" He drinks again, and Shikamaru frowns. "… Eh…. Hinata told me that… that this would be fun and *hic* and..."

Naruto trails off, forgetting his thought all of a sudden, and Shikamaru puts a hand on his shoulder. "Don't be a baby and freak out. Next time she shows up, wave or something. You're probably being teased or something. …Jeez, Naruto, did you at least eat something, first? You're hitting that red brandy pretty hard."

"Red _what?!"_ Naruto nearly trips standing still, staring at his glass. "This is alcohol?! I thought it was *hic* some… fancy fruit punch!"

Immediately, he puts the drink down and tries to center himself. If he'd known, he wouldn't have guzzled down a cup and a half so quickly… Shaking his head, he steps away from the table and opens his eyes to a brief drunken fog before he's able to focus… and spots a waterfall of dark brown hair several yards away. Hanabi.

"Ah! I've gotta go, Shikamaru!" Naruto says, stepping away from the refreshment table and starting to follow after Hanabi as best as he can. He nearly stumbles when he first starts off, and Shikamaru says something that he doesn't catch, but Naruto's fine. As far as he tells himself. He centers himself again, regains his focus, and continues to follow, eventually catching Hanabi by the shoulder.

"Hey, Hanabi! Do I know you? …I mean, wait… I _do_ know you. But- Never mind!"

Hanabi freezes for a moment, turning her head to look over her shoulder at Naruto. One look at the blank, stern-yet-curious lilac, and Naruto is immediately relieved that he guessed correctly and didn't accidentally disturb some other random woman, or Sakura would have his head.

"Naruto?" comes Hanabi's soft voice. "My sister said you might come. …You look like you've seen a-"

"Ghost? Well…" Naruto sighs and looks around, shivering before turning back to Hanabi. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure it's nothing now. Where's Hinata? I was thinking that since she invited me, she might want to hang out here or something."

Hanabi blinks very slowly. "I'm not supposed to tell you that. Where's the fun in a masquerade ball if you know where to find what you're looking for? That's like having a scavenger hunt with… directions."

Naruto deflates, groaning. "Well, you can at least tell me what she's wearing, right? Right? Please?"

Hanabi frowns, giving Naruto another slow blink. "…I don't think you understand how this wor-"

"PLEEEEEEEEASE?!" Naruto begs. Hanabi responds by huffing and tightly pinching Naruto's lips together.

"You're tipsy. And annoying. And you're not doing a good job of convincing me that I should tell you. …Here, how about this?"

Hanabi looks over at the middle of the ballroom as the gentle quiet music begins to pick up in volume. Couples all around pair up on the floor and dance slowly to the rhythm.

Hanabi looks back at Naruto and points to the middle of the room. "Since you're here, dance with me. If I think you've redeemed yourself, I might give you a little hint about where my sister is. She _is_ here and waiting for you, I'll tell you that much."

Naruto blinks down at Hanabi as she releases his lips. "Dance with you?"

"Yes."

"But… aren't you ten?"

"…I'm asking you to _dance_, Naruto."

"Yeah, yeah! It's just that- …I don't know, I just-"

"Do you want a hint or not?!"

"Alright, alright, fine!"

Naruto sighs and takes Hanabi's hand as she extends it toward him, silently wishing he didn't somehow piss Hinata off when he finally found her like he has the three other women he's so far encountered. …Now he just needs to remember how to dance.

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><p><strong>Next chapter will be up some time this evening. Maybe two! Stay tuned, guys! :D<strong>

**~M.H.C~**

**May all your**

**Hearts beat with**

**Calamity!**

**Till next time!**


	4. Waltz

**Welcome back! This will probably be the last chapter for tonight, and I probably won't be able to get to the next one until tomorrow afternoon or evening at some point, if I don't manage to slip another one in before going to sleep. I'm sorry I wasn't able to get this up sooner, but enjoy!**

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><p>The two and a half years spent traveling and learning from Jiraiya were filled with more than just hard shinobi training and life lessons that Naruto would carry with him for the rest of his life. Jiraiya taught Naruto many more than a few things in those long-seeming years about how to act around women. Naruto let most of the more boring lessons fly quickly over his head, and what he did learn from Jiraiya that even marginally interested him at the time, like sex, were pushed into the back of his thoughts in favor of learning how to be a stronger ninja.<p>

Dancing was one of those lessons that did a little bit of both. The dramatic way that Jiraiya described techniques and motions flew right over his head, and he didn't bother at all to soak them in, but the grit of what he taught Naruto at that time, it stuck with him, and then fell back into irrelevance. Naruto has danced with one or two girls before, and the only reason he's not freaking out – at least not as much as he might have if otherwise – is because he knows he has good instincts and a fair sense of recall. Or at least, he did, before that cup and a half of red brandy.

Naruto had taken Hanabi as close to the center of the ballroom as he could without really noticing, and stands rather awkwardly in closed position. Being nearly a head taller than the young Hyuga, she had to reach up in order to put her left arm over his shoulders, and even then, was limited to only setting her hand against the back of his neck. Naruto's right arm, instead of around her waist, had to settle with lying against her upper back, and both their opposite hands were firmly interlocked. From what he can tell through the simple white ovular mask she wore, Naruto thought Hanabi seemed impressed.

"You know how to waltz, yes?" she asks plainly.

Naruto doesn't need to glance around. He knows they're the only 'couple' on the floor that hasn't moved yet. "Yeah, yeah, sure. It's just been a while, you know? Gotta remember the steps… Right foot forward first, right?"

"Left."

"Oh, got it…" Not a good start. He sighs and hopes the rest of the steps just come to him, and begins the waltz. Despite his tipsiness, his instant recall does not fail him. Left step forward, right step right, left step in. Right step back, left step left, right step in. Hanabi, thankfully, helps him as much as to guide the turn.

"Gee, you're rigid," Hanabi criticizes. "It really has been a while since you've done this, hasn't it?"

Even though she didn't speak very harshly that time, Naruto nods an apology and immediately tries to loosen himself up, taking larger steps in a little bit more of a deliberate manner. As much as he's trying to impress Hanabi, though, he's always looking around over her head as they turn, making sure that weird woman wasn't watching him from some place…

"That's better," Hanabi says, smirking up at Naruto. "Slightly. I don't quite know if I'm impressed enough to give you that hint, though…"

Naruto sighs inwardly. She's trying to goad him into a bolder move. Another of Jiraiya's lessons about women: they do stuff like this sometimes, and you always call their bluff with as much bravado as possible. Always. …Here goes.

Naruto begins another waltz step, left step forward… then a _huge _right step right, leading Hanabi swiftly off to the right before she even knows what's happening. The hand clutching hers changes the way it's position and tugs her arm so that it's straightened toward the ceiling. Hanabi's two quick twirls come perfectly naturally, and he finishes it off with a dramatic dip, low enough for Hanabi's hair to touch the floor.

"…Oh, my." Hanabi mutters as she rises, her eyes blinking rapidly behind the mask and staring up at Naruto for a moment. She looks around at the few partygoers who witnessed the dip giving very light applause, then back up at the bold, blonde ninja as he stands with crossed arms and a wide smirk.

"So? Did I earn that hint?"

Hanabi's eyes seem to drift briefly, like she's staring through Naruto, but she refocuses and nods her head. "I don't know if I need to anymore, really," she chuckles. "Just stay here a moment. She might see you."

Naruto blinks, his mouth agape as he watches Hanabi turn and leave the floor to disappear among the crowd of people again. "Whaa?! Wait! You promised me a hint!"

Betrayed… Sort of. Naruto wasn't sure how to feel at first. He didn't know Hinata's sister to be a dishonest person… Maybe she _did_ give him the hint, and it was just really cryptic. He crosses his arms and starts to think hard for several moments about Hanabi's words, trying to shuffle them around in his head, to see if he can make some sense of her code.

All thought processes halt immediately, though, as he feels a warm, soft breath against his ear. He doesn't want to. But he must. Naruto turns around, and stares right into his ghostly stalker's eyeless visage and the predatory smirk on her icy blue lips.

Shit.

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><p><strong>I'm making this too painfully obvious, aren't I? xD Don't worry, Naruto's an idiot. It's still a mystery to <em>him<em>, at least! Juicy parts incoming, only a couple of chapters away at this point. :3 Stay tuned!**


	5. Lilac

**Sorry about not posting anything yesterday, you guys! I went home for the weekend and just wanted to relax and sleep... -3- But I'm back with a new one, and we're getting closer to the good parts. :3 For some reason, this one felt a bit weaker, but maybe it's just me. I'm a little tired right now. Enjoy nonetheless!**

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><p>"E-Ehehe… H-Hi…?"<p>

He didn't know what else to say to her. He had to wonder if anyone else even saw her, if this really _was_ a ghost haunting him and only him. If Shikamaru hadn't told him to simply face her next time she showed up, he might have just upped and fled. Instead, he just slowly begins to back away.

The woman doesn't respond verbally, but her head tilts to the side and her soft smile widens slightly as she walks forward at the same pace, making sure he doesn't get away from her. Naruto warily continues. "You're a little bit weird… Are you following me? …Do I know you?"

The woman reaches forward and quickly grabs Naruto's wrist to stop him from moving any further away, and steps even closer until her chest is settled against his and her lips begin to approach his ear. The cool porcelain of her mask brushes his whiskered face, and he goes rigid as stone as her breath and her faint, alluring whisper of a voice murmurs to him.

"You will."

Almost on cue, the ballroom music begins to take a lively, faster pace, and many of the couples separate to dance and sway on their own to the beat. The blind tigress turns and tickles his nose with the soft, subtle lilac scent of her hair, tugging him by the wrist back to where they had been before near the center of the ballroom floor. Naruto has no choice but to follow, blushing slightly from the sudden warmth coming over him, and blushing _profusely_ when the woman whirls around again and presses close against Naruto, her huge breasts nestling right up against his chest.

He wanted to be confused, but had absolutely no time and no available energy. He stands stiff, both in fear and wary arousal, as the strange woman shimmies and sways, struts and shakes in a circle around him. Her hands glide slowly and calmly up his back, down his arm, up his other, and across his cheek. That lilac scent is all over her body, and all over his now, as well… He struggles to think straight as she presses close and combs her soft fingers through his hair.

"Y-You're… a good dancer," Naruto mumbles, unable to loosen himself up no matter what he did. He's trapped in what Jiraiya used to call the strongest, most dangerous genjutsu known to man: womanly charm. He can almost see the invisible strings stretching from the tips of her beautiful fingers to his limbs, putting him helplessly under her sway. She takes his hands and sets them on her hips, and Naruto couldn't resist if he wanted to.

Soft, wide, easily forty inches around, at least. Slipping his hands slightly lower and dragging his thumb over the fabric with slight pressure, he can tell immediately that she's pantiless underneath her kimono. Great, his mind has turned on him. Jiraiya's lessons are coming back to him in force. He's digging himself deeper into her trap, and she loves it. Her lips part to reveal perfect teeth. Her hips drop, rise and sway back and forth in a soft U-shape in his grip, which firms up, holding onto her like his life depends on it…

While his hands rest on her hips, his eyes rest on her face, or apparent lack thereof. He's mesmerized by her eyeless mask, and he's far too distracted to even begin to try and figure her out. He wants to speak, but what can he say to a lustful ghost-minx that won't get turned on its head and draw him further into her clutches? He wants to move, but where would he go, and why is it better than here? He wants to focus on something other than her massive chest and her buxom hips, but… who is he kidding?

She whirls in his arms to face away from him, playfully swatting his cheek with her hair and pressing her perfectly peachy rump right against his crotch, doubtlessly confirming her lack of panties. When she bends over and shudders her hips against him, it's all over. Whatever thoughts were left in his head that weren't about her emptied out of his nose. His eyes nearly glaze over with helpless, mindless lust, and he can't even remember who the hell was hosting this crazy party.

Everybody around them, some watching the hilarious interaction and laughing as they cheered it on, some gazing on in amused curiosity, some utterly flabbergasted that it was Naruto they recognized getting this treatment, some jealously incensed that it wasn't _them_ getting this treatment… all of them fade away in a strange mental haze, leaving Naruto alone with this ghastly stranger as she stands straight and twirls twice-and-a-half to face him again, grabbing his hand and tugging his body along the ballroom floor.

She weaves them through the crowd, back and forth to the same places they'd been, behind pillars, through more shaded areas out of the general line of sight, all so quickly that Naruto doesn't even know where they're going anymore. He's so dazed that it takes him several moments to realize that they've moved a lot farther from the music than should be possible, even in such a large ballroom.

The feeling of cool air against his face restores Naruto's focus and attention, and he looks around to discover that she's somehow dragged him up to one of the balconies of the Hokage Residence, the empty Leaf Village streets looming beneath them. He blinks and looks back at her, eyes widening as she slowly licks her lips.

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><p><strong>Hehehe. Next chapter will be here soon! Stay tuned!<strong>

**~M.H.C~**

**May all your**

**Hearts beat with**

**Calamity!**

**Till next time!**


	6. That Lady

**Aha, managed to get this one in right before my first morning class! n_n I'm happy! And I hope you guys are, too. Enjoy!**

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><p>"A-A-Ahh…"<p>

All that training gone to waste, apparently. Jiraiya had been preparing Naruto, trying to prevent something like this from happening, going so far as to help set him up early on with easy women to get his feet wet and some experience under his belt. And yet even though Naruto wasn't a virgin, and he knew enough about what to do and how it works, and he was taught – though he likely ignored it – how to counter manipulative traps like this, he couldn't do a thing about it.

When she corners him against the cool, polished wooden banister and slowly unbuttons his suit coat, loosens his tie, and pops the first button on his undershirt, he should have said… _something_ and done… _something_… things he can't remember. Things that would have charmed and enamored the sultry ghast into turning the tables on herself and stripping for him instead. When she tugs him in by the collar and kisses him deeply on the lips, he should've kissed her back, leaned against her weight, spun them so that she was now pinned against the banister and under _his_ command. But he can't do it. He's too far gone. His normally rational, clever mind has melted to mush, and Naruto, with what little working brain he has left, is flabbergasted that in all of his years of battle and hardships and overpowering adversity, he has _never_ felt more helpless in his life.

This woman, if she wanted, could kill him effortlessly at any moment. She could hold a knife in front of his face, explain to him in great detail where she'd cut and how long it'd take for him to expire, and he'd only hear every third word and die before he realized he was bleeding. She doesn't do this, but it's still a scary thought that will haunt Naruto for a little while once his coherence returns. For now, though, his reactive lust is all that's driving him.

One of his hands reaches behind him to grip the firm railing and steady himself. The other reaches behind her, to grip her fine, plush rear and earn himself a soft moan in return. She pulls back just then, leaving his lips tasting like flowers and his face flushed beyond belief. He'd stare into her eyes if he could see them, and settles instead with examining the pattern of her mask as she leads him backwards, away from the banister and toward one of the soft chairs nearby. With a little push, he collapses into the seat, and she looms over him, the glow of the moon shining directly behind her and making her look even more ghostly and spiritual.

"I-Is this for real..?" Naruto half-mutters as the blind tigress sinks down to her knees before him. Flustered and confused as to why he was picked out. "W-… Why are-"

"Shhh…" the woman says, reaching out a hand and pinching Naruto's lips together to silence him.

He almost figured it out just then. A moment more of wandering thought, and it might have finally clicked in his mind. But once again, all of his thoughts are interrupted and lost in a haze as she swiftly does away with his belt and buckle, fishing through his pants and eagerly retrieving her prize: seven inches and a half of pure, helpless arousal.

He shivers against the cold fall wind, and the woman gives him a comforting, reassuring stroke or two, her actions speaking to him, as if telling him silently that it was okay, that he wouldn't be cold and homeless for much longer. And seconds later, her icy-blue lips part and she ducks her to slowly give his hard-on a new place to stay for the night.

Technically, this wasn't new to him. He's been sucked off before. Getting his feet wet (or dick, in this case), and all that jazz with Jiraiya and his occasional "helpful" set-ups with women he didn't know and probably wouldn't recognize today. But with the look on Naruto's face and the airy gasp and shaky sigh he lets in and out, one would think this was the first time he's ever done anything sexual with a woman. He was helplessly stiff, gripping the arms of the chair he was in for dear life as he watches the top of her snowy head go up and down at an even pace.

He twinges painfully in her mouth, and as he groans, reflex kicks in and he moves his hand as if he was going to grab himself in response to the soreness. With her head in the way, though, he can only take a firm grip of her silvery locks. Surprised, apparently, the ghostly succubus pauses for a full two seconds before she purrs and continues what she was doing. Naruto decides not to let go of her hair, wrestling with himself to be active in _some _way. His fingers comb through the long, soft, beautiful mane as he groans to himself in pleasure, closing his eyes and tilting his head back.

He's been woven deep into her web of lust, and he can't escape. He doesn't want to. Somewhere inside of him is a freakish _thrill_ at the idea of being so helpless, so psychologically confuzzled that he feels like he's bound tightly without an inch of rope or chain, and he begins to grin goofily, wondering where that desire to get away from this woman came from anyway…

He opens one eye when he feels her start to rise, and stares up at her face as she licks her lips and undoes her sash, tossing it at his feet. Her kimono itself quickly follows, and Naruto begins to process what's in front of him. More than just a plain and simple naked woman. A naked woman standing with an otherworldly grace and a calm, collected, curiously secluded confidence. She stands like a goddess in the form of a dancer, the shadows teasing off of her nude form.

Finally, he has the answer. He's finally figured it out, and it all makes perfect sense.

"You… I _do _know you…" he whispers in awe. "You're… You're… that lady. That ultra-pretty lady at the waterfall. I saw you all those years ago! When I was with Shino and Kiba and Hinata, searching for those creepy bugs to help find Sasuke! I remember getting up to pee, and then I just… saw you! Dancing! And you saw me, too! W-Wow… A-All these years… Have you been searching for me all this time?"

The woman is silent for a very long moment before she finally gives a tiny shrug and nods her head.

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><p><strong>*sigh* Oh, Naruto...<strong>

**~M.H.C~**

**May all your**

**Hearts beat with**

**Calamity!**

**Till next time!**


	7. Too Much

**Gee, I'm on a roll, it seems. n_n Got this done right before my last class of the day, and I'm happy with it! Once again, I hope you guys are, too. :P There might be two or three chapters left before I bring this fun little adventure to a close, and if all goes well and I'm fired up enough and not distracted by other crap like food and sustenance, I might get this finished tonight!**

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><p>Naruto leaned into the next kiss with so much more ease. His rigidity melted away, and he actually moved his hands now, to feel her soft skin and grope her huge doughy breasts and her deliciously plump rear as she hugs her arms around his shoulders and settles more into his lap. Most of the fear and uncertainty fled away from him when he realized he had caught the attention of this long-lost beauty, finally united again with him. His lust still burned strong, making him forget about almost everything else besides her. He was still caught in her web.<p>

Besides his greater ease and relaxation, very little has changed. Blinded, still, by lust, he remains passive and lets her keep the control. He doesn't let himself get quite as dazed, and tries, at least, to keep right behind her lead. It's hard, though, not to just let her do what she wants… He groans and pulls away from the kiss to bite down on his lower hip as the mysterious masked maiden slides her hips back and forth in his lap to massage her moist lips against his stiffness, gripping her ass all the more desperately with barely-restrained need and excitement. She grins at the wave of tension that passes through her prey, cupping his cheeks and kissing softly across his face as she decides the time for teasing is over.

In a slow, smooth motion, the woman slides her hips forth again, her lower lips kissing along the underside of his arousal before catching his tip. She holds there, setting her forehead against his. "Finally…" she mutters, her soft voice little more than a whisper as she lets her hips sink down onto him. She purses her painted lips for a brief moment as his entrance is stalled at her hymen, and Naruto blinks curiously, about to open his mouth to say something, when she forces herself down completely with one buck.

The woman gasps and her shoulders rise briefly to her ears at the spot of pain and sharp soreness, but her lips quickly find his again, and Naruto, totally stunned, closes his eyes and continues to let everything happen as it will. Whatever brief moment of pause she had to shiver quickly flees beyond memory, and the blind tigress returns immediately to her catty, seductive charms, purring in his ear and picking through his hair as she slowly bounces her hips in short little rises and falls, almost like a novice would, before finding a natural rhythm and going with it, going gentle on Naruto, who still can do almost nothing more that hold onto her ass and just groan.

"I-I didn't… think you'd be a virgin…" Naruto manages to mutter softly as the woman rests her chin on his shoulder while she bucks. "You've been… waiting all this time for me?"

She only responds with a simple nod of the head, moaning audibly now and not just in whispered sighs. Something about the sound of her true voice catches him off guard, but he's too drunk in lust to put a finger on it… Moments later, the sighs return, but quicker now as she begins to increase in pace. Naruto spirals out of focus again and struggles to recover as he twinges hard within her again. It's too good… Something will snap eventually.

Everything about this masked, ghostly dancer entrances him from the rhythm of her bucks to the feeling of her warm naked body against him, to the muffled thud of her thick haunches against his clothed thighs, even to the soft, squeaking of the chair she entertaining him in as it endures the abuse with only whimpers of protest. Too much… Too much… Naruto growls as he feels something stirring within him, gritting his teeth and closing his eyes tighter. His lips tremble as a couple of teeth extend into canines, and his lover, able to feel the energy pouring out of him, chuckles softly.

"Do it," she murmurs, again in that voice. "Let it all out, Naruto… Let out that feral, carnal need… let it take you… and then take _me._"

Naruto doesn't need any more convincing. He opens his eyes, red and vulpine, and smirks widely as raw instinct takes hold.

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><p><strong>Mhm. Hope you all are still enjoying it! Stay tuned, because I'm pretty sure things are about to get real.<strong>

**~M.H.C~**

**May all your**

**Hearts beat with**

**Calamity!**

**Till next time!**


	8. What a Turn of Events

**It absolutely blows my mind every time I look at my story traffic. This story has gotten more views in one day than some of my stories have _ever_ gotten. That is just insane, and I love you guys for all the support and all the views and reviews and alerts and favorites. They all make me so happy! :D This one's for you guys! Thanks SO much!**

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><p>What a turn of events.<p>

The blind tigress grunts as she's pinned against the banister, her front directed toward the empty village streets and her ears filled with the sound of Naruto's hungry growling and the dull hum of music in the distance. This is seconds after she implored him to let it all go and take her, sending Naruto right over the deep end and turning this whole affair right on its head, just like she wanted.

Naruto sets a palm firmly on the center of her back and bends her over so that her belly is pressed against the cool wood and her head can do naught but face the ground a story below. Naruto keeps her securely pinned where she is, panting against her ear as his other hand glides down over her bountiful rear and finding home right between her legs. The tigress purrs in delight, her whole body shuddering with pleasure as Naruto's fingers pump mercilessly, the wet sound of her lips spreading and her moist cavern churning against his warm fingers sending her mind spinning.

It was almost comical. The ghostly predator, who had all the power before, stands naked in the open air and bent over a railing in front of her ravenously aroused, fully-clothed lover who had once been her prey. Naruto, lost to the carnal desires mingling slightly with some of Kurama's chakra he had full, free access to, can't comprehend the irony.

His fingers slide free and rise to his lips, taking a long, deliberate moment to taste her essence. Delicious… Licking his lips as he decides he's run out of time to waste, his next move is to adjust himself into a proper position, lining the tip of his twitching erection right against her and burying himself home again.

She gasps, and grips the wooden railing as tightly as her gentle fingers will allow, nesting her teeth gently into her lower lip and bracing herself for the wild ride sure to follow.

"Nngh..! Ah, Naruto… Agh!"

Her yelps echo into the night along with the sound of the rapid pace of his hips against her ass. Naruto closes his eyes and pistons full-force into his predator's buxom form, growling and groaning in heated lust as if he sought to nail her to the wood in front of her. His free hand drifts to her breast and takes one pale globe in his claws, roughly kneading her doughy flesh and pressing deeply into her swollen nip.

Lost in the storm of ecstasy, the silver-haired seductress smiles, wide and happy, throwing her head back and sighing up to the moon. Though her mask hid half of her face and her long hair framed along her cheeks like curtains, Naruto could tell that her face had taken on a vibrant pink hue. He clutches quickly at her hair and gives it a taut tug to keep her head tilted back. Slowing his roll down to an agonizing grind, he leans in to breathe hotly against her ear as she'd done to him before, before leaning in further to bite her neck and leave a red mark where his fangs poked and nearly broke skin.

He pushed her hard and he pushed her swiftly, forcing her to reach that telltale steep crest of pleasure much faster than she was ready for. She nearly collapses, her legs refusing to obey, almost, but Naruto keeps her steady and sets her body straight with a swift, rough buck that creaked the banister whenever her legs would tremble and slacken.

As strong as his lust and as durable his body, Naruto had his limit as well, the corner of his lip trembling as he approaches that fierce high, the absolute pinnacle of desire. His instincts drive him forward, faster, harder, such that he couldn't pull out if he wanted to, and after precious seconds of teetering on that agonizing brink, he pours his hot seed deep inside of her welcoming virgin honeypot. As quickly as his demonic chakra seeped into his psyche, it departs, and as does almost every drop of energy in Naruto's body.

He squeezes his red eyes shut and opens them blue again, grunting and panting as he staggers backwards out of her, hands on his knees as he tries his best to catch his breath, eyeing the small, glossy trail leaking down between her thighs. The blind tigress sinks to her knees against the wooden railing, panting desperately along with him. The heat in the air between them is nearly stifling, and Naruto is sure he'd have roasted in his suit by now if she had not helped him vent that heat by undoing his clothing slightly.

"W-Wow…" is all he can say after a moment. "That was just… I-I don't even know…" He shakes his head and watches the naked woman's breathing slow down into a calm rhythm again and her legs work as best as they can for her to rise again.

"…Naruto…" the woman says, her voice loud and clear now, no whispers. He looks at her, blinking slowly as she stands very still, her hair fluttering in the cool breeze.

"Y… Yeah?" he asks, trying to stand straight again.

"It's midnight."

He doesn't know what she means, and tilts his head curiously, but it clicks when she reaches for her face and finally removes her eyeless mask. She slowly turns around to face him and runs her hair behind her hair, and when Naruto finally sees her soft pink face and her teary lilac eyes, intensified by an active Byakugan, he has no idea how he could've been so stupid.

"…H-Hinata?"

She'd dyed her hair silver, all except for a single tuft on the right side, and painted her lips and her nails, but as untypical as she looked, he would always recognize those eyes. He can only blink at her, utterly stunned as she walks slowly toward him and reaches to press his lips together with two fingers.

"Shhh…"

She reaches up and gently sets her blinding mask on his face, and kisses him briefly on the lips before her presence is gone. Naruto shakes his head and pulls off the mask quickly, but she's gone, and her clothes are gone as well. He totters forward and leans against the banister with a sigh, panting softly and just… trying to process it all.

It was her. Behind a mask.

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><p><strong>The next chapter will be the last one. Hope you enjoyed this short little tale of mine, because it ends tonight. And as soon as I can, I'll be starting on another Naruto fic that will be quite a bit longer. Keep me on your alert if you'd like to see more from me. :D Once again, thank you guys so much for the earth-shattering amount of support for this story!<strong>

**~M.H.C~****May all your****Hearts beat with****Calamity!**

**Till next time!**


	9. The Blind Tigress

**Sorry I couldn't get this out last night. n_n Was way too tired! And I had to redo it because I didn't like where I was going with it the first time. Ah, well! It's the epilogue chapter to this crazy little tale! Last night, I received nearly 2000 views and over 400 individual viewers. That's just absolutely mind-blowingly insane to me, and I know I might have said this before, but I'm amazed at all the support I've gotten for this story! It feels like every five minutes, my email is dinging me telling me I got another review or another favorite or follow. xD Thank you guys so much from the bottom of my heart, and enjoy this mushy little epilogue!**

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><p>A whole night later, and Hinata is taking yet another shower, trying her damnedest to get the dye out of her hair. Her own fault for deciding on white to seem more spirit-like and mysterious. It certainly worked, but at an annoying minor expense. As frustrated as she is with the constant rinsing, she treats her hair as gently as she can, lightly scrubbing, checking, and scrubbing again. Ten minutes later, her hair looks about as clean as it's going to get, even though she's sure that more streaks are going to fade back in, or she didn't part her hair well enough and missed some.<p>

She opens the door of her steamy washroom and lets the air vent in, grabbing a towel as she waits and gingerly wrapping it around herself. A chill wafts over her as she finally steps out back into her bedroom, glancing at the nightclothes she'd laid out for herself on her bed before turning toward her full-body mirror and peering at herself.

She can't look at herself the same. After the other night, she's felt different about herself. In a very good, but very strange way, not including the splitting eye soreness that resulted from her extended use of the Byakugan to see through that porcelain mask. She felt so liberated while she was disguised… So different, a stranger to herself. She could be whatever she wanted to be without fear of criticism because of who she _really_ was, and what she wanted to be that night could not have gone any better.

Everything she wanted to do, she did, with a frightening natural skill she didn't even know she had. She loved being someone else, and after a nice, long read of some old books of questionable publication, she felt ready enough, and it paid off so well. She was still sore, and her body ached, missing him… She rubs her thighs together as she looks herself up and down in the mirror, reaching up a hand to lightly touch at the mark on her neck. The mark his fang left, that was still tender to touch and would probably not fade for another few days.

She almost misses him, but blinks as she notice his presence in her open window reflected in her mirror. He was perched casually on her sill with her mask strung casually around his neck. Hinata turns around and meets Naruto eye to eye, gazing straight at him, where this same time last year, her head would have exploded if Naruto had stumbled upon her dripping wet in only a towel hiding her modesty.

She waits for him to speak.

"Hey, Hinata," he says, rubbing the back of his head. "You busy?"

She shakes her head. "I just got done showering… I was going to head to bed soon, and you really shouldn't be trespassing on the Main House Compound, Naruto. I don't want you getting in trouble."

He chuckles, hopping from her sill and into her room, landing quietly. "You're worried about me being bold and going places where I don't belong?" he answers back with a smirk.

Hinata blushes, unsure how she should take that. She stares at her mask for a moment as it hangs loosely around his neck like a charm, and looks back into his eyes.

"Did… Did you come to return my mask? You can keep that, Naruto, it's-"

"Nah. Well, something like that, I guess. I wanted to talk to you about the other night."

"N-Naruto, I…"

She trails off, genuinely lost on what she could possibly say about last night. There were no words. She expressed herself in as clear and powerful a way as she wanted. Then she realizes that he said that _he_ wanted to talk to _her_, and goes silent to listen.

"I was kind of an idiot, you know… not noticing you sooner. And you, ah… You really got me. It felt like we kind of changed places, you know? You were the brave one, relentlessly pursuing your goal, I started out feeling strange and unsure, sort of… passive… before you inspired me with your words. It made me really think about how much stronger you've gotten. In some ways, you've gotten a lot stronger than me."

He grins toothily and rubs the back of his head, while Hinata continues to listen, wide-eyed and blushing as usual.

"Naruto, that me that you saw the other night was just fake…" she mutters. "I made her up. I pretended to be someone I'm not b-because I was tired of not being that close to you. I'm really not that bold or seductive. I could never have done all that stuff without that mask and that dye."

Naruto tilts his head and frowns. "Don't you dare go back to beating yourself up now, Hinata." He steps closer to her and places his hands firmly on her bare, wet shoulders. "I'm not going to let you, okay? I can't, now."

His touch nearly makes her melt, but she stays steady despite herself, listening further as he continues.

"Hinata… I want to be what you really want me to be now. The other night freaked me out all day yesterday because I was wondering how I could have possibly missed you and how you felt for so long. Hell, I think you _told_ me you loved me, at some point. Not being good with girls is not good enough anymore."

He doesn't need to say it, and Hinata doesn't need to hear it. Without waiting for him to continue, she closes her eyes and leans in, sealing her soft lips gently against his for a very long few moments before pulling away. A slow smiles spreads across Hinata's face as Naruto opens his mouth to speak again, but she quickly shuts him up by pinching his lips together.

"Shhh. I love you, too, Naruto. And we can talk more later. Now… please don't… be too loud?"

He smiles and nods, and they pull away from each other, Naruto going to close the window and Hinata going to make sure her bedroom door is securely locked. They turn back toward each other, and Hinata's towel drops away as she walks slowly toward him again.

Naruto barely has time to unzip his jacket before she's pressed against him, and his hands begin to roam along the soft, pale flesh he caressed the other night, giving her a gentle squeeze on the hips as she steps back to lead him toward the bed. Hinata sweeps her nightclothes off toward one edge of the bed before returning to Naruto's arms.

She slips his jacket from his shoulders for him, but he won't let her help him remove any more, and instead guides her into a seat on her bed. Her curious gaze becomes wide and embarrassed as Naruto sinks down to his knees and slowly spreads her legs apart.

"Only fair," he mutters up to her with a smirk before his face vanishes between her thighs and she gasps up at the ceiling and closes her eyes, letting the first of many long, soft moans ease, straight from her heart.

It's going to be a long night.

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><p><strong>And that's that! Thanks for reading and put me on Author Alert if you want to stay tuned for more from me. I'm going to be starting another Naruto fic in a few days, probably. It's based on one of my favorite mangas (which just so happens to be an ecchi... don't judge me! xP). I'll say something about the manga in case you guys are curious about it when I finally put the story up. I have no idea what it's going to be called yet, which is all the more reason to put me on Author Alert! n_n<strong>

**I will say this, though. The next fic I'm planning is going to pit Naru/Hina versus Naru/Saku in a weird little naval battle. I'm sure you all can tell which I prefer, but I definitely won't let that stand in the way of my writing, nor will it automatically decide which ship will win the day. Now I just have to hope that I'm a good enough writer to pull this off. xD Stay tuned for more and thanks again for reading, all of you!**

**~M.H.C~**

**May all your**

**Hearts beat with**

**Calamity!**

**Till next time!**


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